Every time I turn around, a new electronic gadget comes along. I discovered a new media called Playaways the last year I taught reading, and my students loved them. Then a patron who had checked one out from the Llano library told me she really liked them. A Playaway is a digital audiobook pre-loaded into an mp3 player. Listeners do not have to handle CDs, and the player is, of course, more compact than a CD-player. We decided to order a couple for a “trial-run”— Toys by James Patterson and Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy (Not to fear—we also have these titles in hardcover books!). I hope someone will try one out and tell us how you like it. We also have some new audiobook titles on CDs.Other New Arrivals in Audiobooks: (All quotes are from publishers’ summaries)The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obréht (CD F OBR)“In a Balkan country mending from years of conflict, Natalia, a young doctor, arrives on a mission of mercy at an orphanage. By the time she begins to inoculate the children, she feels age-old secrets gathering everywhere around her. But Natalia is also confronting a private mystery: the inexplicable circumstances surrounding her grandfather’s recent death. A famed physician, her grandfather must have known that he was too ill to travel. Why he left home becomes a riddle Natalia is compelled to unravel.”44 Charles Street by Danielle Steel (CD F STE)“The plumbing was prone to leaks, the furniture rescued from garage sales. And every square inch was being devotedly restored to its original splendor—even as a relationship fell to pieces. Now Francesca Thayer, newly separated from her lawyer boyfriend Todd, is desperate. The owner of a struggling art gallery, and suddenly the sole mortgage payer on her Greenwich Village townhouse, Francesca does the math and the unimaginable. She puts out an advertisement for boarders. Soon her house becomes a whole new world.”Night Road by Kristin Hannah (CD F HAN)“For eighteen years, Jude Farraday has put her children’s needs above her own and it shows—her twins, Mia and Zach, are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill moves into their small, close-knit community, no one is more welcoming that Jude. Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi. Suddenly Jude is at a loss. Nothing feels safe anymore. On a hot summer’s night her worst fears are realized. One decision will change the course of their lives.”Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts (CD F ROB)“Little else in life is as dangerous as fire jumping. But there’s also little else as thrilling—at least to Rowan Tripp. The Missoula smoke jumpers are one of the most exclusive firefighting squads in the nation, and the job is in Rowan’s blood; her father is a legend in the field. Returning to the wilds of Montana for the season feels like coming home—even with reminders of the partner she lost last season still lingering in the air.”New in Non-Fiction and Young Adult Fiction Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff (940.54 ZUC)“On May 13, 1945, twenty-four American servicemen and WACs boarded a transport plane for a sightseeing trip over ‘Shangri-La,’ a beautiful and mysterious valley deep within the jungle-covered mountains of Dutch New Guinea. But the pleasure tour became an unforgettable battle for survival when the plane crashed. Miraculously, three passengers pulled through. Caught between man-eating headhunters and enemy Japanese, the wounded passengers endured a . . . journey into the unknown that would lead them straight into a primitive tribe of superstitious natives who had never before seen a white man—or woman. Drawn from interviews, declassified U.S. Army documents, personal photos and mementos, a survivor’s diary, a rescuer’s journal, and original film footage, Lost in Shangri-La recounts this incredible true-life adventure for the first time.”Young Adult Fiction The Wake of the Lorelie Le by L. A. Meyer (YA Mey Blo.8)“Jacky Faber’s long-time dream has come true: She is owner of the Lorelei Lee, a large brigantine that can carry passengers across the Atlantic in legal trade. She is newly rich from her exploits diving for Spanish gold and absolved of past sins against the Crown. Yet when she docks in London to take on her crew, she discovers that her enemies . . . have spread lies about her—and she is immediately arrested and sentenced to life in the newly formed penal colony in Australia.”LIBRARY NOTES:Story Hour 10:00 A.M. on FridaysLIBRARY INFORMATION:Location: 410 Post Hill; Phone: 325-347-5446; FAX: 325-347-6562; Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1785, Mason, TX 76856; E-mail: masonlibrary@verizon.net; Web Site: http://bcls.tsl.state.tx

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